NEW HAMPSHIRE RULES OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT

INFORMATION ABOUT LEGAL SERVICES

Rule 7.1. Communications Concerning a Lawyer's Services

A lawyer shall not make a false or misleading communication
about the lawyer or the lawyer’s services.Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, a communication is
false or misleading if it:

(a) contains a material misrepresentation of fact or law,
or omits a fact necessary to make the statement, considered in light of all of
the circumstances, not materially misleading;

(b) is likely to create an unjustified expectation about
results the lawyer can achieve, or states or implies that the lawyer can achieve
results by means that violate the rules of professional conduct or other law; or

(c) compares the lawyer’s services with other lawyers’
services, unless the comparison can be factually substantiated.

Ethics Committee Comment

The 2002 version of ABA Model Rule 7.1 eliminated
subsections (a)-(c) of the former version of the Model Rule in favor of a more
general prohibition on false or misleading communications.The New Hampshire rule retains
subsections (a)-(c) because of the specific guidance they provide to the
practitioner.At the same time, the
New Hampshire rule adopts the general prohibition on false or misleading
communications and provides explicitly that the subsections of the rule are
illustrative, not limiting.New
Hampshire Rule 7.1(a) also maintains the provision of the predecessor New
Hampshire rule that a determination of whether a communication is materially
misleading must be made “in light of all the circumstances.”

[1] This Rule governs all communications about a lawyer's
services, including advertising permitted by Rule 7.2. Whatever means are used
to make known a lawyer's services, statements about them must be truthful.

[2] Truthful statements that are misleading are also
prohibited by this Rule. A truthful statement is misleading if it omits a fact
necessary to make the lawyer's communication considered as a whole not
materially misleading. A truthful statement is also misleading if there is a
substantial likelihood that it will lead a reasonable person to formulate a
specific conclusion about the lawyer or the lawyer's services for which there is
no reasonable factual foundation.

[3] An advertisement that truthfully reports a lawyer's
achievements on behalf of clients or former clients may be misleading if
presented so as to lead a reasonable person to form an unjustified expectation
that the same results could be obtained for other clients in similar matters
without reference to the specific factual and legal circumstances of each
client's case. Similarly, an unsubstantiated comparison of the lawyer's services
or fees with the services or fees of other lawyers may be misleading if
presented with such specificity as would lead a reasonable person to conclude
that the comparison can be substantiated. The inclusion of an appropriate
disclaimer or qualifying language may preclude a finding that a statement is
likely to create unjustified expectations or otherwise mislead the public.

[4] See also Rule 8.4(e) for the prohibition against
stating or implying an ability to influence improperly a government agency or
official or to achieve results by means that violate the Rules of Professional
Conduct or other law.